In the harvesting of crops it is desired that the grain be separated from other elements or portions of the crop, such as from pod or cob fragments, straw, stalks, and the like. Agricultural combines typically have employed a rotary threshing or separating system for separating and segregating the grain from such other crop elements or portions. Typical of such rotary threshing or separating systems are constructions such as those described and depicted in Van Buskirk U.S. Pat. No. 3,537,460, issued to International Harvester Company, and Hall et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,994, issued to Deere and Company. In general, rotary threshing or separating systems are so designed that, as threshing occurs, the resulting crop material is typically caused to fall directly onto an underlying vibratory cleaning system or onto one or more conveyors for conveyance to a cleaning system for further processing.
The cleaning system typically includes a set of stacked sieves or shoes that are reciprocally moved, usually in the fore and aft directions, to separate or sift the grain from tailings and material other than grain (MOG). With many combines, as the grain is cleaned from the MOG, it falls through the sieves and drops onto or into one or more underlying clean grain pans that are disposed below the sieves, which pans typically include a plurality of elongated and longitudinally oriented clean grain collecting troughs positioned side-by-side across at least a portion of the width of the combine to receive the clean grain that falls through the set of sieves. Such collecting troughs are configured to receive the grain falling therein and to convey such grain therethrough towards an intersecting, cross, generally laterally extending, clean grain conveyance trough, sometimes referred to as the clean grain auger trough.
The laterally extending clean grain conveyance trough receives the clean grain conveyed thereto from the clean grain collecting troughs and typically has associated therewith a conveyance mechanism, often in the form of an auger extending therethrough, for moving and delivering the clean grain in such clean grain conveyance trough to an elevator that carries the clean grain up to a clean grain tank. For convenience of reference, the clean grain conveyance trough will generally hereinafter be referred to as the clean grain auger trough regardless of the particular conveyance mechanism that may be employed therewith for moving the clean grain through such trough, and it should be recognized and understood that such appellation is not intended to indicate or require that an auger must necessarily be employed therein or associated with such trough.
During the vibration of the sieves, air is blown upwardly and rearwardly through the sieves to carry lighter elements of the MOG, or chaff, away. The heavier elements and tailings that are too large to fall through the sieves and too heavy to be blown away are caused to be moved by the vibrations, generally rearwardly along the top surfaces of the sieves, towards and over rear edges of the sieves to fall onto a tailings pan located below and extending somewhat beyond such rear edges. The tailings pan, similarly to the clean grain pan, typically includes a plurality of elongated and longitudinally oriented tailings collecting troughs positioned side-by-side across at least a portion of the width of the combine to receive the tailings that fall thereinto from the rear edges of the sieves. Such collecting troughs are configured to receive the tailings therein and to convey such tailings therethrough towards an intersecting, cross, generally laterally extending, tailings conveyance trough, sometimes referred to as the tailings auger trough.
The sidewardly extending tailings conveyance trough receives the tailings conveyed thereto from the tailings collecting troughs and has a conveyance mechanism, often in the form of an auger extending therethrough, for moving and delivering the tailings to a tailings return conveyor operable for carrying the tailings upwardly, back to the cleaning or separating system of the combine, for reprocessing. For convenience of reference, the tailings conveyance trough will generally hereinafter be referred to as the tailings auger trough regardless of the particular conveyance mechanism that may be employed therewith for moving the tailings through such trough, and it should be recognized and understood that such appellation is not intended to indicate or require that an auger must necessarily be employed therein or associated with such trough.
Although conveyance mechanisms associated with the clean grain auger trough and the tailings auger trough, such as augers disposed in such clean grain auger trough and in the tailings auger trough, are generally effective in conveying the clean grain and tailings through the respective clean grain auger trough and the tailings auger trough and for emptying the clean grain and tailings from such auger troughs, remnants of such materials, as well as dirt and other residue, can build up over time along the bottoms and edges of the auger troughs and at locations beyond the reach of the augers that extend through such auger troughs, especially when moisture is introduced into such auger troughs and/or such remnants remain in the troughs as they are exposed to weather extremes. It is desirable to be able to remove as much of such remnants as possible, especially from the clean grain auger trough, to avoid in subsequent harvesting operations the mixture into the newly harvested grain of grain from an earlier harvesting and to avoid the fouling of the auger or other conveyance mechanisms in the auger troughs.
In some combines and with some auger troughs, the ability to clean out the troughs has been essentially limited to the introduction or direction of a pressurized stream of water into the end of an auger trough to try to wash out the remnants remaining therein, with modest success. In order to secure a better clean out of auger troughs, some users began to cut holes into the bottoms of the auger troughs, generally of limited size and somewhat centered along the length of troughs, to provide an access point for the introduction of pressurized streams of water or air and to permit access through such holes for manual clean out of at least some of the remnant material. After the accomplishment of such clean out as could reasonably be made, the holes were sealed with plates mounted to the troughs to cover the holes during the subsequent operation of the combines. By configuring the plates to be removable and reinstallable, such users effectively modified the troughs to include panels or doors along the undersides of the troughs to facilitate the better removal of crop and other remnants therefrom.
More recently, some combines have been designed to include auger troughs that include engineered doors along portions of the bottoms of the troughs, generally approximately centered along the length of the troughs and designed to provide a tighter and more uniform fit than was true with the user-crafted panels. By removing, from beneath the combines, bolts or like connector assemblies securing the doors to the troughs, a user could remove the doors to permit cleaning activities and could later reinstall such doors, again from beneath the combines, by properly matching and positioning the doors to the openings therefor along the underside of the troughs, pushing the doors into place, and reconnecting the bolts or like connector assemblies.
Even with such engineered clean-out doors, clean out of the clean grain auger troughs and the tailings auger troughs has remained problemsome due to the difficulties associated with the removal and reinstallion of such doors, due in part to the location of such doors beneath the combine and the necessity for accessing them from beneath the combine, and to the limited accessibility to certain areas along the troughs even when the doors have been removed. Since such doors have encompassed only a portion of the undersides of the troughs, even when such doors have been removed for clean out activities, remnants of crop and other materials could remain at the ends of the troughs and at other areas along the troughs that are not located above the door locations or to which there would be only limited, if any, accessibility through such doors.
Consequently, the clean out of auger troughs, and the ability to achieve the desired effective cleaning, has remained a concern for combine users.